Skyline hanger attachment



Feb. '26, 1963 E- o. N/muu 3,079,131

SKYLINE HANGER ATTACHMENT Filed Dec. 12, 1960 INVENTOF? ERNEST O. NAUD M By W United States Patent 3,079,131 SKYLINE HANGER ATTACHMENT Ernest 0. Naud, Bowen Island Post Oflice, Bowen Island, British Columbia, fianada Filed Dec. 12, 1969, Ser. No. 75,286 3 Claims. (Ci. 254--190) My invention relates to improvements in skyline hanger attachments.

In the logging industry it is becoming increasingly common to use an aerial tramway system to transport fallen logs from the woods to a point where they may be conveniently loaded on to trucks or the like. Such a tramway usually takes the form of an overhead cable or skyline which is strung between spar trees to provide an elevated track for a wheeled carriage. The carriage is adapted to raise the logs and support them above ground level as they are carried to their destination and in order for the carriage to pass the spar trees the overhead cable is secured to each tree by means of a device known as a skyline hanger.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a device which will greatly facilitate the task of securing the hangers to the spar trees with the skyline supported thereon and suitably tensioned.

A further object is to provide means whereby the line may be rigged without damage to either the hanger or the cable such as commonly occurs when conventional rigging methods are used.

A still further object is to provide means which will allow the cable span between one spar tree and the next to be tensioned and adjusted as to sag before the next adjoining hanger is erected so that less strain is imposed on the cable and less power is required from the cable winch.

These and other objects will appear in the following specification and be shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged section taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a front elevation, part broken away showing the skyline in place with the hanger cap fitted to the shoe.

FIGURE 5 is a detail section taken on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a hydraulic diagram.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicates corresponding parts in each figure.

The numeral 10 indicates generally a skyline hanger having a substantially C-shaped arm 11. A vertical member 14, having an opening 15, is fitted to the upper end of the arm 11 and the lower end of said arm is provided with a horizontally extending spindle 16.

Rotatably mounted on the spindle 16 is a cable supporting shoe 18, having on its lower edge 19, a centrally disposed web 29. A horizontal sleeve 21 is integrally formed with the Web 26 and said sleeve is fitted to the spindle to butt against a stop 22 on the arm 11, see FIG- URE 2 only. A disc 25 is secured to the spindle by a bolt 26 as shown in FIGURE 5 and serves to lock the sleeve against Withdrawal from the spindle. The shoe 18 has rounded ends 28 provided with transverse openings 29 and an upper edge 30 in which a longitudinal groove 31 is formed.

The shoe 18 is adapted to support a skyline 32 which is lodged in the groove 31 as shown in FIGURES 4 and 5. When seated in the groove the line 32 is secured against movement relative to the shoe by means of a cap 34. The cap 34 has a rounded upper edge 35 and ends 36 which taper down so as to merge with the rounded ends 28 of the shoe. A longitudinal groove 37 which preferably has polygonal sides, is formed in the lower edge 38 of the cap to enclose the upper half of the skyline and said cap is clamped into gripping engagement with the skyline by a plurality of clamping bolts 40. As shown in FIGURE 5 the bolts 40 are recessed into the upper edge 35 of the cap to provide an unobstructed path for the skyline carriage wheels when travelling over the hanger shoe.

The hanger 10 is adapted to be fitted with an attachment 44 having spaced cranks 45 and each of said cranks is preferably formed by a pair of triangular plates 46. A shaft 48 connects each pair of plates together and journalled on said shaft between the plates is a roller 49. The cranks are hingedly connected by a member 51 which is secured between each pair of plates by a removable pin 52. For the member 51 I prefer to employ a hydraulic cylinder 54 having a piston rod 55 and for the cylinder I provide a circuit which includes a fluid reservoir 56, a control valve 57 and a pump 58 fitted with an operating handle 59.

The attachment 44 is secured to the hanger shoe by means of removable pivot pins 62 which extend through the lower ends of the plates 46 so as to be received in the openings 29. In order to limit the swinging movement of the cranks 45 towards each other, the plates 46 are each fitted with a bar 64 which normally bears upon the upper edge 30 of the shoe as shown in FIGURE 1. The cranks are prevented from swinging beyond a predetermined point in the opposite direction by means of detachable stops 66 which stops are secured to the rounded ends 28 by means of the pivot pins 62. As shown best in FIGURE 1 each stop 66 has a part 67 which bears against the lower edge 19 of the shoe and said stop also has a part 68, which is engaged by the cranks 45 when the several attachment parts are disposed in the dotted line position shown in the figure.

Assuming that the skyline 32 has been laid out on the ground adjacent to the spar trees and one end of said line has been suitably anchored the device is used in the following manner. The first hanger 10 to be erected is placed at the base of its tree with the cap 34 removed from the shoe 18. The cranks 45 and their detachable stops 66 are secured to the shoe by pivot pins 62 and the line 32 is raised and placed between the plates 46 so as to be supported on the rollers 49. The weight of the cable is such as to swing the cranks about their pivot pins until they are supported by the stops 66 and in this position the member 51 is secured to the cranks by the hinge pins 52. By manipulation of the valve 57 and the pump handle 59' the cylinder 54 is pressurized to swing the cranks toward each other or to the solid line position of FIGURE 1.

The hanger with the line thus supported by the attachment is now raised to the top of the spar tree and is secured thereto by a cable 70 which is entered through the opening 15 in the member 14. When the hanger is supported in this manner the arm 11 hangs vertically downwards with the shoe disposed remote from the tree and to maintain this vertical position of the arm guy wires 72 are rigged. The wires 72 are secured to brackets 73 which project from the sides of the arm 11 and the lower ends of said wires are securely fastened to a stump or other suitable anchors, not shown.

A pull is exerted on the free end of the skyline to tighten the anchored portion of the line and during this tightening the rollers 49 permit the line to run freely through the attachment. The valve 57 is opened to discharge the cylinder 54 and allow the cranks to swing into contact with the stops 66. This movement lowers the skyline into the groove 31 whereupon the pins 52 and 62 are removed to dismantle the attachment so that it may be lowered to the ground. When the cap 34 is secured to the shoe 18 the tension is removed from the skyline and the attachment is moved to the next spar tree.

The hanger for the adjoining spar tree is raised and secured in position using the attachment 44 in the above described manner. In this instance the sag of the skyline between the two trees is carefully adjusted before locking the skyline to the hanger shoe by means of the cap 34.

Thus the'rigging of the skyline and its supporting hangers proceeds from tree to tree until the final hanger is in place whereupon the free end of the skyline is suitably anchored to the ground to complete the elevated track for the log transporting carriage.

What I claim is:

1. In combination with a hanger having a longitudinally grooved shoe in which an overhead cable is adapted to be supported, an attachment for the hanger comprising a pair of transversely spaced plates at each end of the hanger shoe, a removable pivot pin extending through each pair of plates and the adjoining end of the hanger shoe, a hydraulic cylinder having a piston rod, said cylinder being connected by a first hinge pin to one of said pairs of plates and said piston rod being connected by a second hinge pin to the other of said pairs of plates, a roller journalled between the plates of each pair above the pivot pins, said rollers initially supporting the cable above the hanger shoe,

2. An attachment as claimed in claim, 1 wherein the hydraulic cylinder is included in a hydraulic circuit having a hand operated pump and a control valve therefor.

3. In combination with a rigidly supported hanger having a longitudinally grooved shoe in which an overhead cable is adapted to be secured by means of a cap, an attachment for the hanger comprising a pair of transversely spaced plates at each end of the hanger shoe, a removable pivot pin extending through each pair of plates and the adjoining end of the hanger shoe, an endwise extensible member, each end of said member being connected by a removable hinge pin to an adjoining pair of plates, a roller journalled between the plates of each pair above the pivot pins, said rollers initially supporting the cable above the hanger shoe and means for extending the member to swing the plates about the hinges to lower the roller supported cable into the groove prior to securing the cap to the shoe.

References Qited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,684,784 Weller Sept. 18, 1928 1,841,292 Lark Jan. 12, 1932 2,765,145 Martin Oct. 2, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 202,213 Austria Feb. 10, 1959 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A HANGER HAVING A LONGITUDINALLY GROOVED SHOE IN WHICH AN OVERHEAD CABLE IS ADAPTED TO BE SUPPORTED, AN ATTACHMENT FOR THE HANGER COMPRISING A PAIR OF TRANSVERSELY SPACED PLATES AT EACH END OF THE HANGER SHOE, A REMOVABLE PIVOT PIN EXTENDING THROUGH EACH PAIR OF PLATES AND THE ADJOINING END OF THE HANGER SHOE, A HYDRAULIC CYLINDER HAVING A PISTON ROD, SAID CYLINDER BEING CONNECTED BY A FIRST HINGE PIN TO ONE OF SAID PAIRS OF PLATES AND SAID PISTON ROD BEING CONNECTED BY A SECOND HINGE PIN TO THE OTHER OF SAID PAIRS OF PLATES, A ROLLER JOURNALLED BETWEEN THE PLATES OF EACH PAIR ABOVE THE PIVOT PINS, SAID ROLLERS INITIALLY SUPPORTING THE CABLE ABOVE THE HANGER SHOE. 